Milkha Singh is brand ambassador for Surat marathon

Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, will be the brand ambassador for the second night marathon organised by the Surat police.

Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, will be the brand ambassador for the second night marathon organised by the Surat police to raise funds for the second phase of installation of 500 CCTV cameras in the diamond city. The event, scheduled to be held on February 23, will be inaugurated by Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi.

Surat police commissioner, Rakesh Asthaana, said, “The first phase of the CCTV installation is over. We have installed over 100 cameras in the city at different locations and also built a Command and Control Centre. The funds raised on February 23 will be used for the second phase of the project and we hope to get sufficient funds from the public and businessmen of Surat city.”

The first night marathon held in Surat saw 30,000 participants covering a distance of 36 kilometers, while this year, oaver 50,000 participants, including 40 international athletes, are expected to run for 42-kilometeres.

This time organisers have also raised the price money to Rs 22 lakh from Rs 16 lakh in the first marathon. Over five lakh people are expected to participate in the event which will also see the presence of officials of Guinness Book of World Records. The entire project is under public private partnership model and is titles “Magnet of Change Vision for 2020”.

BJP MP Chandrakant Raghunath Patil said, “The BJP youth workers and ward members will also take active part in the marathon. Surat had the highest number of youth runners across the country during the Run for Unity event.”

The marathon has been divided into six categories. The participants, aged 18 and above, including international athletes, can participate in the full marathon of 42 kilometers, half marathon of 21 kilometers, and 10 kilometers. Apart from this the participants above 12 years, can participate in the five kilometer run. The Spirit of Surat Run is of one kilometer and participants can run on invitation, while for senior citizens, the run is of 2.5 kilometers, said Race director Niraj Verma.